Volume 5: The Hegemon of Southern Italy, Chapter 20: A Strange Alliance

Sisprotis stood there with his mouth agape, stunned.

Davos stroked his jaw, which bore only a light stubble, and fell into deep thought: forming an alliance—that was indeed a clever move! The greatest obstacle to getting the people of Croton to agree to cede Asperustum and the land north of the Neto River was the issue of Croton’s security, and becoming an ally would eliminate that obstacle entirely. By now, everyone in Magna Graecia knew that the Daonia magistrate was renowned for keeping his promises; a weakened Croton after the war could instead seek shelter under Daonia’s protection. So, did Daonia need this alliance? Of course it did! Acquiring so much new land would require a long time just for immigration, administration, and forming new defense forces. The biggest concern was that the settlers might clash with the Crotonians near the border, potentially reigniting war. With this alliance, the Daonians could safely, slowly absorb, assimilate, and secure this territory. Thus, the alliance was the best choice for both sides!

With a complex expression, Davos scrutinized Lysias carefully. He thought to himself: faced with the humiliation of his own city-state and an enemy he hated, this man could still come up with the clever proposal of forming an alliance with that very enemy. It would take immense composure to stay calm and rational—hardly an easy feat!

Seeing that Davos was silent and kept staring at him, Lysias began to grow a little uneasy, so he pressed: “Does Lord Davos agree to this proposal?”

Davos snapped back to reality, keeping his face composed. “What kind of alliance?”

“The Daonia Alliance and Croton will form a separate offensive and defensive alliance!” Lysias said in a deep voice.

Davos paused for a moment, then understood the little trick Lysias was playing. He didn’t want Daonia’s influence to enter the Croton alliance and affect Croton’s ally cities like Scylletium, Trina, and Caulonia. Davos didn’t mind that. He firmly believed that as long as his strength was great enough, cities would naturally come flocking to his side.

“The Daonia Alliance can only enter into a defensive alliance with Croton!” Davos replied calmly. Protecting Croton under the Daonia Alliance was fine, but helping Croton expand—for instance, if Croton later attacked Locri, Daonia would also have to lead troops in accordance with the treaty... Davos certainly wouldn’t do something that foolish, and the weaker Lysias had no choice but to agree...

The negotiations continued into the afternoon, and a preliminary draft was reached: First, the Daonia Alliance and Croton would form a defensive alliance (placing this clause first was mainly intended to reassure the citizens of Croton); Second, Daonia would immediately and unconditionally release all captured soldiers from the Croton alliance and allow them to return to Croton; Third, Croton would transfer the city of Asperustum and half of the plain north of the Neto River (mainly the land near Crimissa) to the Daonia Alliance; Fourth, Croton would pay a one-time sum of 500 talents to help the Daonians smoothly resettle Asperustum...

The treaty was ultimately set for a term of five years. Davos initially demanded a two-year term, but Lysias strongly insisted on raising it to five. Compared to the situation half a year ago when they negotiated the agreement—the roles were completely reversed—this clearly showed that the balance of power between the two sides had shifted.

The treaty made no mention of Crimissa. Davos considered Crimissa a neutral city-state, not part of the Croton alliance, so Croton had no right to discuss it. Lysias, on the other hand, wanted to minimize the shock to the Croton citizens. He had even disguised the indemnity as aid, so naturally he preferred not to mention Crimissa at all if possible. In truth, anyone with eyes could see that with Asperustum and half the plain north of the Neto River belonging to Daonia, Crimissa was now surrounded by Daonia—did it have any other good option?

Lysias and Sisprotis returned to Crimissa. Myron immediately asked Lysias about the negotiations. Fearing complications, Lysias claimed that the negotiations had only just begun and that some conditions proposed by the Daonians would need to be discussed by the Council before a decision could be made. Then he hurriedly boarded a ship and left Crimissa.

Myron felt uneasy: with the loss of Asperustum and Locri’s declaration of war, Croton now had few choices left. The only question was how harsh Daonia’s terms would be.

...

The people of Crimissa were even more unsettled. Although they were trapped inside the city, news of the outside world came through the port and was impossible to hide from them. Lysias had appeared in the city several times—what was he doing? They knew perfectly well. Small city-states, caught between larger ones and struggling to survive, were highly sensitive to the situation.

Antaoris, the chief general of Crimissa, had once taken the initiative to approach Lysias. Lysias dodged the topic and avoided any in-depth discussion of Crimissa’s fate. Lately, Myron had also been deliberately avoiding him... All this made Antaoris foresee that this peace negotiation would be very unfavorable for Crimissa. Crimissa had fully supported Croton, but in the end, it might be abandoned by Croton! The thought pained Antaoris deeply.

So, after secretly discussing with Euricpus, Pleades, and others, he decided not to wait for death but to proactively make contact with Daonia and find a way out for Crimissa.

Although the entire city’s defense had been handed over to the Crotonians, the Crimissans were still the local power. They sent a man out of the city late at night, sneaking through the blockade to reach the Daonian camp. After he stated his purpose, the guards brought him before Davos.

“Crimissa wants to surrender?” Davos said with a mocking smile. “Your entire city is in the hands of the Crotonians. What good would your surrender do me?”

The man was momentarily at a loss. Seeing Davos’s indifferent expression, he gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: “We Crimissans still have over three hundred citizens capable of fighting. When you attack the city, we are willing to strike the Crotonians from behind and help you take Crimissa. Then—”

“Then, after the war, Crimissa will remain neutral!” Davos looked at him, savoring the words.

“No! No!...” The man hurriedly shook his head. By then, Crimissa would have offended Croton; how could it remain neutral? “Crimissa is willing... willing to join the Daonian Alliance!”

“It’s too late!” Davos said sternly. “We don’t need you to take any risky actions, nor do we need Crimissa to join the Daonia Alliance. For Crimissa, there is only one path!”

His tone hardened, and he spoke decisively: “To become part of the Daonia Alliance! The Crimissans will become citizens of the Daonia Alliance! Then the land and property of the Crimissans will be protected. The generals and councilors of Crimissa will be elected by vote in the Daonian Senate, and some will become members of the Senate!...”

When Lysias and Sisprotis read out the draft treaty before the Croton Council, they expected it to provoke outrage and debate, but in fact there was not much opposition. Because before Lysias returned, the Daonian army had once again appeared in the core territory of Croton, showing off its strength and razing a village outside the city. The council members had witnessed this from the walls. Under pressure from the people, they hastily cobbled together several thousand men to go out and repel them, but were easily routed and fled back into the city in disgrace. Fortunately, the Daonian soldiers did not press their advantage and attack the city; instead, they withdrew voluntarily.

The sense of defeat among the people of Croton was palpable. On top of that, on the surface, this was not a truce agreement for the vanquished, but an alliance treaty of mutual aid. Although they had “transferred” some land, they could welcome back their captured citizens, and they could ally with Daonia. Most Crotonians actually felt relieved. Davos, the Daonia magistrate who had twice defeated Croton with smaller forces, already filled them with fear. Some even believed the rumors that “Davos is a descendant of the gods and favored by Hades.” To no longer be at odds with Daonia under Davos, but to become allies, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Some even proposed: since the alliance treaty was already signed, could they invite Daonia to send troops together with the Croton army to march south and repel Locri...

At the end of January, 398 BCE, Davos, the Daonia magistrate, and Lysias, the general of Croton, sacrificed a lamb to the god Apollo outside the city of Crimissa and formally signed the alliance treaty, bringing the Second Croton War to a close.

When news of the war’s end spread, many Croton soldiers inside Crimissa actually burst into cheers. During this time of fighting against Daonia, they—who had once dominated Magna Graecia—had suffered nothing but defeats. This stark reversal had crushed their morale and oppressed their spirits. Now, at last, the great weight on their hearts was lifted.

“Look, that’s the voice of the citizens! They are tired of fighting Daonia!” Lysias remarked, both to respond to Myron’s earlier complaints about his excessive compromises during the negotiations.

Myron, looking out the window, watched the soldiers on the streets throwing down their shields and spears in relief and rushing to taverns to drink wine as if they had won a victory. He was speechless for a long time.

Just then, a guard entered: “General, Antaoris is urging us to ask when we will leave.”

“That damned Antaoris! Don’t think that just because Croton lost, you Crimissans can disrespect Croton!” Myron suddenly burst out cursing, venting all his frustration. “Go tell them: don’t provoke me, or with one command, I can turn this city of Crimissa into rubble!”